A Necklace Giveaway Winner!

Thank you all for the comments, tweets, blogs, and fb posts about my first giveaway! It feels good to have this support and I wish I could give a nice treat to each and every one of you (hopefully someday). I utilized random.org and it chose comment #8 :) So congratulations to Ali @ His Birdie's Nest. Look out for an email, Ali!!

Have a good Monday everyone!

Where did you go?

I took an unintentional, yet totally needed, blog break. Somewhere in the end of March and beginning of April, life got in the way. Nothing really exciting happened. There was work, day trips, and a minor cold. Ideas would come up yet time was scarce. But as the weeks had passed, I realized that I missed blogging. I still have a few wedding recaps to do, some DIYs in my head, and food stories I want to share. Hopefully my blog is still on your radar. I promise to be back :)

And because today is a beautiful day in SB, here is a photo of some palms.


Happy Thursday everyone! It is almost the weekend :)

You've got me feeling hella good

No Doubt just set their dates for their summer tour!!!

Tickets go on sale 3/7/09 and they are hitting so many California cities I can't contain myself. Do we bachelor/bachelorette party in Vegas at the Tiger Jam, visit college friends in San Diego and take in the concert at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater, how about we do a Nor Cal trip to visit the future in laws in Sac and see my brother in SF while catching 2 shows that weekend? But of all the shows to see, the Irvine Meadows (now called VW Amphitheater but I grew up calling it Irvine Meadows so I'm sticking to that) shows on July 31 and August 1 are the must attend shows. It'll be their homecoming and you know bands close their tours in stellar ways.

It's such a joy to see how far they've come. And marriage/weddings have been song subjects along the way.



Tragic Kingdom's "Hey You" describes a deep desire for marriage although one might not be ready. Thinking solely with your heart and dreaming of fanciful things, but not using your head.

No Doubt - New Music - More Music Videos

Then there's "Simple Kind of Life" from Return to Saturn, which struggles with a longing to settle down and get married, but also wanting keep a career and independence.

No Doubt - New Music - More Music Videos

This is followed by Rock Steady's beautiful "Underneath It All" (one of my all time favorite songs) where the journey has brought the realization that this is someone who you want to share the rest of your life with.

Gwen went on to have such a beautiful and stylish wedding.

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The invitation is glamorous yet simple. I love their GG icon on the invitation cover, it like a heart.

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The beautiful couple. I love the style of Gwen's veil. And you can see the use of the GG icon above them.

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Gwen's wedding gown is among my favorite dresses. Designed by John Galliano, the dip dyed gown went from white to hot pink. It's a beautiful interpretation of her personal style.

Now how do I get tickets to each aforementioned show onto the registry??

Do you have a favorite celebrity wedding? Are you excited for any summer concerts?

update: No Doubt will be on Gossip Girl. :) woo hoo!

Blog title is from lyrics by No Doubt

Thank you for being a friend

I received this blog award from Melissa at M & M Wedding. It's super cute and I'm glad to pass it on. Horray for wedding blogs!

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”!

So I would like to pass this onto these cool bloggers (in no particular order):

A Sweet Wife
Bride Sophisticate
Canadian Bride
Dot the i Wedding
Happily Ever After
Peachy Keen
Throw The Rice
Wedding Peephole
With This Ring

Blog title is from lyrics by Andrew Gold

Dress you up in my love, part IV

Making wedding decisions has come quite easily. We had no problems with booking venues, chose our caterer and baker really easily, and decided on colors happily. So when it came to my dress, although I was nervous about pricing, I knew the decision would be easy. My requirements were that the dress compliments a curvy shape, has delicate lace detailing (or a lot of lace), is strapless with a cute neckline (sweetheart), and is the color white to compliment my skin tone (which will get tanner once summer comes).

I had made an appointment with Alfred Angelo at their Beverly Hills location a few Saturdays ago. I chose Alfred Angelo because a few of their dresses fit my price range (under 1k) and the dress photos looked promising their site. Knowing that I didn't want to overwhelm myself with options, I printed out 5 dresses I really liked. They shared most of the same characteristics (strapless, lace).

When we arrived at the salon we were greeted by very cheery ladies. Although I chose Saturday as my appointment day, I scheduled it right when they opened to miss some of the weekend crowd. Our consultant was very nice and super helpful. She explained ordering, fitting, sizing, material, veils, colors, dress style/cut, and hem length to us. She was very helpful and not pushy, things I like in sales associates.

Source style 1807

The fitting went on smoothly. I tried on five dresses, in a slightly roomy dressing room, and really liked two. Style 1807 was divine! A sweetheart neckline, mermaid cut, flared skirt that was cathedral length with lovely lace detailing in a nice white color :) Style 2020 was way lovely. A nice neckline, empire waist with ribbon to match wedding colors, lace tiered white gown. It was so delicate. We knew the choice would be between the two.

Source style 2020

My mother was leaning towards 2020 since it had a more traditional look and would match our ceremony venue so well, but I was leaning towards 1807.

Here is 1807. I love the ruching, lace detailing, and over fit.

It was in the right color, right cut, right style. I loved everything about it. I can't describe the feeling besides one of certainty. In the end I got something lovely, which will be revealed on the wedding day :)

Here we are comparing both dresses.

The dress was ordered and should have arrived in 4 to 8 weeks, but just got in last Friday (turn around time was under 2 weeks)! We are picking it up soon and then we do alterations.

Fun things I learned:
Try everything on, and make sure you try your favorite on more than once.
Undergarments are important for fitting the dress.
Although I did not want a veil, actually having one on my head has made me rethink the decision.
Dresses are heavier than they look.
Keep in mind the train and how you want to bustle it.
Make sure your mom (or whoever accompanies you) isn't too excited and doesn't take blurry photos.

How did you know that your dress was the one? Did you learn any fun things when trying on gowns?

Blog title is from song by Madonna